The World Economic Forum (WEF) and VivaTech have officialy joined forces to launch the European Centre for AI Excellence (ECAIE) in Paris, marking a major milestone for Europe’s AI ecosystem. This initiative, announced last year alongside the Action AI summit, is now becoming reality. Key leaders of the project met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Davos last week for an official green light of the center.
A European Home for AI Excellence
The CAIE will be part of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), advancing Europe’s role in shaping the next wave of AI innovation. It's mission in clear: cultivate European talent and build tailored solutions to European needs, while driving innovation and economy growth across the continent.
“AI is far too important to the future of humanity, for sovereignty of Europe, it’s competitiveness, and the development of its economy, education, culture, and the future of our children to stay still” said Maurice Lévy, Founder of VivaTech and Emeritus Chairman, Publicis Groupe in the inauguration last week.
The new center will prioritize driving responsible adoption of AI solutions across industries, supporting key research, and encouraging cross-sector collaboration to tackle shared issues facing the European tech scene.
“The World Economic Forum, in partnership with VivaTech, is committed to shaping the future of AI in a way that drives innovation, economic growth and societal progress," said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director, World Economic Forum. “The new centre will bring together businesses, policymakers and researchers to develop and scale AI solutions that create positive impact for all.”
Paris, Europe’s AI Powerhouse
The center’s Paris location is no coincidence. Paris and France as a whole have proven to be key global players in supporting startup ecosystems, conducting research across borders, and hosting Europe’s biggest tech and startup event, VivaTech.
Paris now ranks as the second largest tech hub in Europe, and the largest within in the EU. This is driven by a high concentration of AI and tech startups, world-class engineering and research institutions, strong government support for R&D and innovation funding, and increasing investment activity that fuels rapid growth and strong enterprise value.
During the announcement President Macron set the ambition clearly, “We want to make Paris as the hub of European AI, to build active, native European champions,” he added, “This center for me will be an accelerator for all our initiatives and for what we are doing by teaming up with the best experts of the world, by challenging our approaches, by making sure we are at the right pace, at the right scale.”
Keep up to date
Interested in the new AI center? You can get updates on it via its website or linkedin. Experience the beautiful old architecture while discovering the cutting edge of innovation at VivaTech in June, don’t wait get your pass now!
